As one example of a cable or the like protection and guide device for protecting and guiding a cable or the like composed of a flexible body such as a cable, a hose or the like, an energy guide chain for guiding a cable or a hose or the like has been known, which has a number of chain links composed of parallel band bodies articulately connected by lateral members, and can move so as to form a bending region an upper side link body, a lower link body and the two link bodies, and in which the upper side link body is placed on the lower side link body.
And such an energy guide chain can be moved at as small electric power as possible and at as low friction as possible while placing the upper side link body on the lower side link body. Further, to design an energy guide chain in as simple design as possible, rollers are provided in at least some of the chain link of the upper side link body and the lower side link body, and the rollers are adapted to roll on a traveling surface provided on a chain link of a link body on the opposed side during the movement of the energy guide chain.
Patent Reference 1: Publication of Japanese Patent No. 2002-513896 (on page 1, FIGS. 6 to 7).
Problems to be Solved by the Invention
However, in the conventional energy guide chain disclosed in the above-mentioned publication of Japanese patent No. 2000-513896, a roller provided on a chain link of an upper side link body and a roller provided on a chain link of a lower side link body are adapted to be moved during guide and movement while climbing over each other. Thus, when the energy guide chain has been used for a long period of time, the possibility of breakage due to mutual collision interference between rollers, which cannot be avoided at the climbing over, becomes high. Further, there was a problem that such mutual collision interference between the rollers generates collision noise and collision vibration and these collision noise and collision vibration are further increased in accordance with increased guide and movement speed.
Further, when the projection margin of an exposed roller from the traveling surface for the chain link is decreased or the mount pitch span of the roller on the chain link is lengthened to reduce such collision noise and collision vibration, bending is generated in the upper link body whereby the chain links of the upper side link body and the lower link side are brought into sliding contact with each other. Thus, there was a problem that remarkable wear occurs in its long time use to increase sliding contact resistance, which not only prevents smooth movement of the energy guide chain but also generates wear particles to contaminates surroundings and the conventional energy guide chain cannot be used in clean environment.
Accordingly, the problems to be solved by the present invention, that is the objects of the present invention are to solve the above-mentioned prior art problems and to provide a cable or the like protection and guide device, which can guide and move a cable or the like at high speed and at low noise between a link connection mode where the cable or the like is extended on one side and a link connection mode where the cable or the like is extended on the other side by folding it in a vertical plane of the cable or the like on said one side while centering a fixed end of the cable or the like, and can suppress wear of the link bodies, and in which the maintenance for par's exchanging and the like is easy.
Means for Solving the Problems
The present invention according to claim 1 solves the above-described problems by a cable or the like protection and guide device wherein a number of link bodies each having a rectangular cross-section are articulately connected to each other and a cable or the like is displaced while allowing to be traveled by guide traveling units detachably provided on at least inner peripheral sides of link bodies in a linear mode, in a guide rail provided between a link connecting mode where the cable or the like is extended in one side and a link connecting mode where the cable or the like is extended on the other side by folding it in a vertical plane of the cable or the like on said one side while centering a fixed end of the cable or like characterized in that each of said guide traveling units comprises a slide retainer slidably fitted onto a slide shaft projected from said link body toward a link side, a spring, which biases said slide retainer toward the link side and a traveling roller rotatably retained by said slide retainer, and that any one pair of slide retainers of upper and lower opposed link bodies in said linear mode are biased toward link sides to be pushed out and the other pair of slide retainers abut on the guide rails to be pushed inside the link whereby the traveling rollers of the upper and lower opposed link bodies in said linear mode are traveled so as to pass each other.
And the invention according to claim 2, in addition to the configuration of the invention according to claim 1, a retainer disconnection preventing mechanism is formed between a slide retainer of said guide traveling unit and an inner peripheral side of the link body detachably provided on the guide traveling unit. Thus the above-mentioned problems are further solved.
Further, the invention according to claims 3 or 4, in addition to the configuration of the invention according to claim 1 or claim 2, respectively, the slide retainer of said guide traveling unit is formed of a low friction resin. Thus the above-mentioned problems are further solved.
Effects of the Invention
In the cable or the like protection and guide device of the invention according to claim 1, each of guide traveling units, which displace link bodies in a linear mode in a guide rail provided between a link connecting mode where the cable or the like is extended in one side and a link connecting mode where the cable or the like is extended on the other side by folding it in a vertical plane of the cable or the like on said one side while centering a fixed end of the cable or like, comprises a slide retainer slidably fitted onto a slide shaft projected from said link body toward a link side, a spring, which biases said slide retainer toward the link side and a traveling roller rotatably retained by said slide retainer. Accordingly, any one pair of the respective slide retainers of upper and lower opposed link bodies in said linear mode are biased toward link sides to be pushed out and the other pair of slide retainers abut on the guide rails to be pushed inside the link whereby the traveling rollers of the upper and lower opposed link bodies in said linear mode can be traveled so as to pass each other. Thus the following peculiar effects can be exerted. That is,
(1) Since the upper and lower opposed link bodies in a linear mode are traveled to pass each other, damage and collision noise of the traveling rollers due to collision interference of the traveling rollers are not generated unlike a conventional case, and a cable or the like can be moved at high speed and smoothly between a link connecting mode where the cable or the like is extended in one side and a link connecting mode where the cable or the like is extended on the other side by folding it in a vertical plane of the cable or the like on said one side while centering a fixed end of the cable or like.
(2) Since the guide traveling unit is detachably provided on an inner peripheral side of the link body, the traveling roller can be easily exchanged without exploding a chain link and to exchange the roller unlike a conventional case.
And in the cable or the like protection and guide device according to claim 2, in addition to the configuration of the invention according to claim 1, a retainer disconnection preventing mechanism is formed between a slide retainer of said guide traveling unit and an inner peripheral side of the link body detachably provided on the guide traveling unit. Thus, traveling rollers retained by slide retainers biased toward link sides of upper and lower opposed link bodies reliably abut on traveling surfaces formed on the opposed link body without coming off the traveling surfaces so that the upper and lower opposed link bodies can be traveled.
Further, in the cable or the like protection and guide device according to claim 3 and claim 4, in addition to the configuration of the invention according to claim 1 or claim 2, respectively, the slide retainer of said guide traveling unit is formed of a low friction resin. Thus, since wear of the slide retainer can be significantly suppressed even in a long time use, the surroundings are not contaminated by wear particles and the like and the slide retainer can be adopted even under a clean environment.
A better understanding of the DRAWINGS will be had when reference is made to the DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION and CLAIMS which follow hereinbelow.